Did you order Feelings?
by CLDJendis66
Summary: Lance isn't fond of handling annoying customers in the day and much less in the late evening. Thankfully, he doesn't have to do it alone since his best friend Keith works with him. Plus, Pidge and Hunk visit often. The last thing he expects is to find his significant other at a drive thru.


Lance was a social butterfly. That was a given. He made friends with people of all ages and it was nice.

But sometimes, he just really, REALLY, hated dealing with people.

Especially since working at a fast food restaurant like McDonald's meant one was forced to deal with assholes on a daily basis. Lance couldn't understand how his best friend Keith had worked here for so long before Lance got hired. Then again, this was Keith and he didn't take shit from anyone.

At first, being the newbie, Keith helped Lance out by dealing with the people and leaving Lance to prep the food ordered. At times the order needed to be changed or not be completed at all, which Lance had found annoying, but didn't mind since he knew that dealing with people _and_ handling orders would soon be something he'd have to do on his own.

When his time came, he realized then how hellish it was to deal with entitled and ungrateful people for so many hours. He'd been working at the front and saw a large family enter. They quickly gave their order, which seemed normal enough, but after they sat down, they left their children to yell and run around. Lance had to yell at them to not do that. The children became frightened before they ran over to their parents, who approached the front counter where Lance was situated.

"Why are you yelling at my children?! They're not your kids!" exclaimed the mother as she accusingly pointed a finger at him.

"Ma'm they're not supposed to be running around the store. It's the rules," explained Lance calmly.

"Well, I don't see them anywhere," claimed the father of the children, making little effort to look around.

Lance held back a huge sigh as well as facepalming in front of them. "They're located at the door and are on the wall right here," he mentioned as he pointed in the general directions.

"You still shouldn't have yelled and frightened them. You could've told them gently!" declared the mother defensively, who was not at all owning up to the fact that neither she nor her husband were managing their children properly, since not a few minutes ago they were screaming and running around, so being gentle would've been pointless.

The unneeded drama continued for a few more minutes as Lance refused to apologize for yelling and barely managed to get the couple to go back to their seats since they'd been blocking other people in line from ordering anything.

Keith came by a little after the event ended and tapped Lance on the shoulder. "You okay man?"

"Just peachy."

* * *

When he was assigned to handle the drive-thru on his own, Lance was already prepared to just hop out the window and go home instead, but he was too loyal to leave Keith after he helped Lance get the job. That and he just really needed money, hence the reason why he took on more hours.

So he sighed and accepted his fate of handling assholes daily on late nights, including weekends. Of course Keith would switch with him on occasion but the manager wanted him up front since he was best at handling so many orders at once while assuring that no bullshit got past him.

Lance admired Keith and found it funny how at one point he considered him a rival, but when they were forced to work on a project in high school for a science class, they got along and became friends. Now that they were in college, they saw each other everyday, but it was a nice consistency he wouldn't trade for the world.

They'd also recently befriended Hunk and Pidge, so it was nice having a large group of friends to rely on too. Pidge shared a dorm with Keith and Lance shared a dorm with Hunk. On occasion, they'd visit and have some nugs when the nights were calm, so it wasn't all bad.

Still, no matter how many times Lance watched a girl pull money out from between her breasts at the cash window, it was still disgusting as fuck to him and he'd scream internally each time. Keith would cringe too at the memory of the sight because even he couldn't understand that lack of hygiene.

Then again, it still blew his mind at the inconsiderate attitude or patheticness of some customers whenever it came to trying to get their order.

The classic "Hello, hello, HELLO?!" never got old with how the instant Lance would answer to take their order, they'd respond with "Give me a sec." Sometimes they'd be on their phone too and instead _ask_ Lance to wait, which was still rude as fuck to be honest.

Of course, because Lance had a job to do, he'd keep asking as politely as possible for the customer to give their order. Trying to verify it as they blabbered away was another matter, which was usually to no avail. Hence, leading to endless complaints on how HE had messed up their order. Same drama came from customers that drove off before he could verify their orders.

Though probably the best ones were when they'd calmly drive up the second window… and change their entire order. Some would complain that the order was wrong way after Lance had verified TWICE that it was right.

He had to give kudos to Keith for having the nerve to tell them (in a manner within the rules) to go back around and order like a decent human through the speaker instead of holding up the line. Lance could never express his salt that directly or so bravely, so it was always a sight to see when it happened.

Since Pidge and Hunk were sometimes the only ones around, they'd hang with Keith and Lance in the back when they finished studying and would often record Keith being a badass. It was priceless and it often helped make the nights be more tolerable than usual.

* * *

"Alright, what are the worst things people do when they gotta pay?" prompted Hunk curiously, a gloved hand cupping the side of his face.

Keith and Lance groaned.

"You first, you've worked here longer than I have," said Lance as he randomly stretched his back and arms.

"Fiiiine," said Keith as he rolled his eyes and took a moment to think up some possible answers. "When they gotta pay you 10 dollars and decide to pay it all in small change."

"NO. DO NOT REMIND ME THE HORROR OF ABUELA HONERVA!" exclaimed Lance as he covered his face, with clean hands of course.

Pidge bursted into laughter. "Oh my quiznaking god who is that?"

Keith and Lance looked at each before Lance sighed and provided a response. "She's this old lady who's into alchemy and talks about it often, which is pretty cool and it's not so scary—"

"Not when it's Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood," interrupted Keith with his arms crossed.

"Okay not counting that—it's pretty neat what she's into and sometimes she'll even show me and Keith some of the results of her latests casts which are pretty nifty. But anyway, point is, she orders a variety of stuff from time to time and sometimes it's 10 dollars…" explained Lanced before he paused.

"Oh no…" muttered Hunk as his hand came over to cover his mouth.

"She always pays in pennies and according to her, it's because she makes too many and figures that she might as well make use of them, but JESUS FUCKING CHRIST THAT'S A LOT OF PENNIES!"

"The horror, the horror," quoted Keith from the book The Heart of Darkness, a book they'd all had to read for English 101.

"Okay, you're next Lance," said Pidge as she struggled to stop laughing.

"When people had all the time in the world to pull out their money, but do it right when they get to the cash window," mentioned Lance as he gestured with his hands in frustration.

"Bonus is they still take 20 years to pay a one dollar sandwich," added Keith with a sigh as he cleaned up the front counter.

"You're joking," said Hunk in surprise. "Who in the world takes that long?"

"Oh it gets better, sometimes it's that _and _then, them realizing they don't have enough money before asking us if we can spare them the change," told Lance as he kept watch on the camera for the drive through.

"We tell them no and explain to them for the nth time that they'll have to take something off because we're not a fucking loan center," finished Keith as he threw away some items with more force than needed.

"Yikes," said Pidge.

"One moron didn't even check their bank account before paying, so when it didn't go through, he got pissed. He was gonna bitch, so I told him to go park and check his bank account," told Keith, enjoying the expression of disbelief on Hunk's face.

"He came back, not to apologize, but to demand that we give him his food because it wasn't fair that we were holding it for being short by 5 cents," added Lance before he stirred the pile of fries to keep them evenly warm and salted. "His name was Lubos I think. Not sure."

"Yeah, he refused to take off anything, so I kicked him out," mentioned Keith.

"You both need a raise for putting up with this bullshit," declared Pidge.

"If only," both Keith and Lance said together.

* * *

It was Lance's turn to handle the cash window today and the night had been rather smooth so far with "minor upsets" as Keith had put it.

He danced a bit to _Hips Don't Lie _by Shakira as he waited for any new customers to show up. Abuela Honerva hadn't come by yet, but she came by at least once a week.

Before he could wonder anything else, he was notified of a customer having approached the speaker and quickly turned down the music.

"Um, hello?" spoke a smooth voice.

"Yes, hello, what would you like to order sir?" asked Lance with his kindest customer service voice.

"I'd like a McFlurry with M&Ms and… oh I have a coupon for some free large fries," they replied calmly.

Lance verified the guy's order before telling him to pull forward. When they window rolled down to give the cash and coupon, he was not at all expecting a face and body sculpted by the gods to greet him with a small smile. Bonus was the mesmerizing pair of grey eyes and luscious dark hair with white bangs. He nearly lost his composure in accepting the coupon and cash for the order and blushed.

However, all thoughts of attraction were lost the instant he read the coupon and felt cheated. "Sir, this coupon is for a free order of small fries, not a large order."

The handsome-guy in the car scrunched up his face in confusion and in mild irritation. "I'm pretty sure they were large. I read it right before I gave it to you."

Lance held back a sigh and another facepalm as he dealt with the situation. From the other end of his headset, he could hear Keith clear as day asking him if everything was fine. "Would you like to me to hand it back sir so you can see for yourself again?"

"Yes please," replied the handsome-guy, who afterwards looked at the coupon with the light provided by the cash window. "Oh… I guess it is small then."

"Good to know that we've clarified this," stated Lance, trying not to put in too much bitterness in his tone. "Are you willing to make changes to your order?"

"Yeah yeah, it's fine," replied the handsome-guy, who seemed to have something else to add, but another car had arrived and needed tending to, so Lance happily told him to proceed forward. Internally though, he moped over the fact that the one time he found someone who seemed to be his type, they turned out to be some sort of asshole.

When the handsome-guy was finally gone after getting his order, along with the other customer, Keith came over to Lance's end. "You okay Lance? You sounded more sad than ticked off when you were dealing with coupon-guy."

"Augh! He was beautiful and he turned out to be a jerk!" exclaimed Lance as he raised his hands in frustration before he slouched in defeat. "I need a hug…"

Keith gave him a pitied look before coming over to give him that much needed hug. "You'll be okay Lance. The right guy will come along."

"I'm cursed to forever meet jerks and asshats," stated Lance hopelessly before he was flicked on the forehead. "Ow!"

"Quit selling yourself so short Lance. There's definitely someone out there who's perfect for you and they'll feel like the luckiest person in the universe with you as their boyfriend," reassured Keith as he placed both his hands on his best friend's shoulders.

Lance sighed, but smiled in feeling better. "Thanks man."

* * *

The following week, Pidge and Hunk had come over to keep them company in the back and were updating them about what Coran had taught them in their latest intro to engineering class.

Lance laughed at their excitement over their project of having to build a Rube Goldberg Machine, but was genuinely happy for them. Keith was asking them how in the world could they be so happy over building something so pointlessly complicated and as they were laying down their case on the beauty of that task, he noticed a car pull up on the monitor.

He was prepared for it to be some more college kids enjoying their night since it was Friday after all, but…

"Uh, hello?"

Of all people, it had to be coupon-guy as Keith had dubbed him from their last encounter. Though handsome-guy was also a fitting nickname.

Lance literally squeaked and jumped off of his stool. Pidge immediately saw and grew worried. "Holy shit Lance did a spider show up?"

"N-n-n-no, yes? No, wait, I mean, AUGH! It's him again!" he exclaimed as he wildly gestured with his hands.

"Lance do you want me to take care of it?" prompted Keith through the headset.

"I'm fine. Everything is fine," replied Lance confidently.

Pidge was going to protest, but Lance proceeded to turn around and reply to the speaker. "Hello, what would you like to order?"

"Uh, I'd like an order of chicken nuggets of 10 pieces with a McFlurry with M&Ms," said handsome-guy and somewhat hesitantly.

Lance verified his order and told him to pull forward to the cash window, all while internally screaming that he had to stare at a beautiful man who was actually a jerk.

When the car pulled up, the window rolled down and the handsome-guy seemed a bit on edge as he handed the money over. Lance avoided making eye contact as he accepted it and checked that the amount was correct.

"Hey…" said the handsome-guy quietly.

Lance glanced up from his task. "Hm?"

"I'm real sorry about the other night last week," added the handsome-guy as he put a hand behind his neck out of nervousness, "I was really exhausted from studying, but didn't realize how bad till the coupon thing. I probably came off looking like an asshole, so, uh, I just wanted to clarify that I wasn't at all trying to scam you."

Lance was speechless and blinked in surprise at the kindness handsome-guy was was expressing.

"How are you real?" he ended up saying before he could stop himself and blushed harder at letting his emotions get the best of him.

Handsome-guy chuckled, but seemed to be blushing a tad bit too. "Does this mean I've been forgiven?"

Lance couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Maybe if you tell me your name first, I might."

"It's Shiro," handsome-guy responded with a more confident grin.

* * *

Lance had intended to continue the conversation, but the appearance of 3 more cars had forced to him to cut the encounter short, so he ended it with "Hope to see you again soon" with a warm smile.

Shiro had stammered a bit in responding, but he seemed happy in having received Lance's forgiveness.

Reality crashed in on Lance when he heard Pidge giggle behind him. "You're adorable when you're nervous."

"Pidge!"

"I gotta agree though," suddenly said Hunk who had come over from Keith's side to look at what Pidge had recorded. "You are."

Lance groaned in disbelief.

Keith had stayed quiet, only talking to the customers while giving their food; but in knowing him for so long, Lance knew he was smiling too.

* * *

While walking back to their dorms after closing up, Pidge and Hunk showed Keith the recording of Lance's interaction with Shiro while Lance added on how he was internally screaming inside.

"I feel like this is a trap for something bad to happen," stated Lance hopelessly before Keith lightly hit him on the back of his head.

"I'm spiritually kicking that negativity out of your head!" declared Keith without a hint of hesitation.

"Let me sulk!"

"No!"

"Keith!"

"Never!"

Pidge and Hunk merely shook their heads in disbelief at these best friends, but they agreed that Lance shouldn't put himself down so much. He really was an amazing person worth falling for, and hopefully, that Shiro guy saw it too.

* * *

It was another day that Lance could add to the list of "I hate people."

Already, some customers had conducted the classic complaint of "Why did you charge me for my 20 extra sauces?!" when there was a sign clearly placed in plain sight next to the speaker that fucking read "We charge for extra." Lance honestly couldn't believe the amount of illiteracy he had to deal with. Abuela Honerva was annoying with her endless pennies, but at least she'd pay everything in total and not complain.

Then again, everyone was going wild over the Szechuan sauce special going on right now, which was why the past week had been more busy than usual.

Keith had had to put his foot down more than once throughout the day at the front counter since a lot of customers were making a huge fuss with ordering the special item.

That wasn't to say that Lance hadn't himself, he just typically didn't have to most times; but the case was different whenever it came to handling assholes at the drive-thru.

Pidge and Hunk said they'd stop by tonight, but hadn't shown up yet.

At the moment, things had stilled for a bit and Keith had come over to his side with a sour face after dealing with some idiots.

"Why the hell do we still get customers that first say "No, I don't want any condiments" but right after they get their food, they start complaining because there's no ketchup?" he stated in annoyance while kicking the trash can, not enough to knock it over.

Lance patted his friend on the shoulder. Keith was great at handling difficult people, but it was still mentally exhausting as it was for Lance. Even so, today had been especially more irritating what with how it had been one large group after another giving them this bullshit. The last had been family of 7 with a single mom and 6 kids that were endlessly screaming in the backseat. They even had the nerve to throw fries at Keith's face and yeah…

"Well, at least you get to look forward to watching that conspiracy video with Pidge after our shift is over," assured Lance as he kept watch of the camera.

"Very true. Also… your crush hasn't shown up yet," mentioned Keith casually and Lance jumped.

"We've already established this Keith, I don't know if he's into guys!" exclaimed Lance as he gestured wildly with hands and groaned in sadness at the reminder.

Keith merely rolled his eyes before a smile tugged his lips. "Well maybe you could ask him right now," he said as he saw a familiar car pull up into the drive-thru.

"WHAT?!" said Lance as he rapidly turned to look at the screens and nearly screamed in a panic as Keith chuckled and went back to his station.

"Keith don't abandon me you asshole!" stated Lance into his headset at him.

"Kssh uh, sorry, um, you're, kshhh, breaking up," replied Keith on the other end and Lance was ready to drag him back into his station, but then a voice spoke into the speaker.

"Uh hello? I'm ready to order."

Lance was so nervous, it took him longer than usual to speak into the line because he kept pressing the wrong button.

"Good evening, what would you like to order sir?" he finally replied and facepalmed at how much he hated being so flustered over someone who probably couldn't return his feelings.

"I'd like a large black coffee, two 10 piece chicken nuggets, a Mcflurry with M&Ms, and a large batch of fries."

Lance took the order and repeated it to check everything was fine and processed it before telling Shiro his total. He fidgeted with his fingers as he waited for him to drive up and Lance did his best to stay calm when he did.

"Hey Lance," casually said Shiro as he waved hello, a light blush tinting his cheeks.

"Wait, how do you know my name? No, ignore the question, I forgot I was wearing a nametag," said Lance all too quickly and internally yelled for embarrassing himself within the first 5 seconds of their interaction.

Shiro chuckled and Lance hated how musical it was to his ears. Thankfully, he didn't have to focus on it too much since right after he was handed the total in cash. Lance noted that it was more than the usual and asked, "Why the coffee? Midterm season?"

"Yes, but the coffee's for my friend Matt. He's pulling an all nighter with this huge exam he's taking tomorrow, so I'm making sure he at least eats something," he explained before realizing he probably said than he needed to, "uh, sorry, didn't mean to ramble haha."

"N-n-no you're fine!" said Lance, praying his voice didn't squeak as he finished counting the money and in seeing that it was more than the price of the order, he proceeded to get the change, but was stopped.

"You can keep the change. It's for you, I mean, 'cause you know, you uh, do really great with your job and all, yeah…" said Shiro really quickly and ended up blushing even harder now.

Lance was taken aback by the kindness and for a brief moment, he hoped that maybe… just maybe…

Shiro liked him back.

* * *

"What do you mean the special event is ending?" asked the bratty 20-year-old-something brunette standing before him at the front counter.

"Ma'm, whenever we announce our specials, we also mention that it's for a limited amount of time," he answered, trying his best to not come off as snarky.

She didn't let up. "Isn't there anyway you could extend it for like a week? That's when I get my paycheck and can pay extra for the Szechaun sauce 'cause it's so good!" she pleaded, not at all feeling sorry for holding up the line that was ever steadily growing.

"The event ends tomorrow, 'nough said. I don't control the company's decisions. They handle that and just provide us the products with the appointed deadline by which they should be gone by," he repeated. "Now please leave, you're causing a disturbance and you're holding up the line."

"UGH!" she growled as she stormed out of the restaurant.

Lance sighed, but quickly put on a smile and did his best to tend to the customers that had been forced to wait.

Thankfully, it went rather smoothly with the usual minor bullshit happenings, but satisfactory at least.

As the evening continued on though, Lance couldn't help but feel that something was off. Even Keith seemed worried as he closed the front of the restaurant after the other workers left and wiped down the front counter.

"It's weird and I can't really shake the feeling honestly," said Keith.

"To be completely honest, I've been feeling creepy vibes ever since that lady caused a scene over the Szechaun sauce," admitted Lance as he tossed some fries to keep them evenly warm and salted.

"Just be careful, I know we get weirdos, but sometimes you never know, we might encounter some dangerous crazies," warned Keith as he checked the items at his station by the cash window.

"Yeah, yeah I know I know," replied Lance as he sealed up the trash bag by the pickup window. He headed outside with it and a few other trash bags to place them into the dumpster, but as threw in the first bag, he heard a sound of some bush leaves crunching.

He turned around and hesitantly checked for the source. It was on the far end of the dumpster opposite him. He was ready to throw a trash bag at it (considering the mess it would cause would be annoying) as his first defense, but before he could panic, two stray cats popped out: Black and Blue, at least that's what he and Keith had come to call them for their colors.

Lance sighed in relief and returned to his task at hand, but then…

He was suddenly hit in the face.

"What the fuck?" Lance said while briefly disoriented, but then utilized what little Shotokan Keith had been able to teach him in the past few weeks to block off the further attacks as he tried to get back inside.

The person attacking them was hard to see, but it was obvious that they were trying to make sure Lance couldn't get back in.

"Keith!" he yelled as he found himself being forced to move farther away from the building. "Keith goddamnit where are you?!"

The punches and scratches were random, but they still hurt and Lance feared that this person had a knife on them. Just as that thought crossed his mind…

"Lance? LANCE!" he heard from afar, but he knew it was Keith.

"Over here!" yelled Lance right before his attacker decided to jump onto him. Lance screamed.

It felt like forever before he heard footsteps fast approaching them, and saw Keith lift the person off of him and pin them to the ground, checking right after if they had any other weapons on them.

Upon closer inspection, Lance recognized them as the bitchy lady that was complaining earlier over the special event ending before her next paycheck. It shook him that she had waited to attack him this whole time, but he was thankful that he hadn't really been alone.

Keith then pulled out his phone and called the cops. They immediately arrived and took the girl away to their car. The officers got statements from both Lance and Keith. They insisted that Lance see a doctor, but he assured them that he was fine, just bruised and scratched. He didn't feel that anything was broken or fractured, but he promised to go to the doctor if any more serious symptoms developed. Right after,the officers let them go, warning them to be careful of future customers. When the boys nodded in understanding, the officers quickly left with the assailant in custody.

In realizing how it was all over, Lance suddenly needed to sit down. Keith immediately grabbed him a chair and brought over some water to help calm his nerves. Then checking the bruise on his face and the ones on his arms, prior to bringing some ice packs to reduce the swelling. Sure, the girl trying to beat him up with her fists hadn't been all that strong, but it was scary to think that she could've done more had she had a weapon on her like a knife or a gun as ridiculous as the reason seemed.

"Lance, I can handle both stations, so you can just sit tight for a while till our shift is over. I don't want you walking back to the dorms alone," said Keith as he checked over everything in the stations.

As much as Lance would've liked to do nothing, he didn't want to leave his best friend on his own, "At least let me help at the cash window, I don't have to go anywhere except if I need to pee."

Keith stared at him long and hard. "You better not overexert yourself."

Lance raised his hands in surrender. "If I start to feel worse, I'll let you take over, how about that?"

"... Fine."

However, it suddenly dawned on Lance that he might possibly see Shiro tonight and be forced to look at him with a shitty bruise on his face and panicked thoughts raced through his mind.

"Stop thinking so loud Lance. You'll be fine. Shiro's not gonna stop liking you from some bruises on your face."

"Keeeeiiiiiiiittth!"

A few hours after, Shiro rolled into the drive-thru and Lance desperately wanted to hide, but he'd been looking forward to seeing him again. At the first sound of the speaker, Lance quickly replied and verified his order before informing him the price of the total.

It felt like centuries passed as Shiro took out his money and then drove his car to the cash window.

He seemed like he was ready to say something, but Lance watched as his face quickly turned to concern and surprise.

"Oh my god Lance are you okay?" he asked as, without hesitation, he got out of the car after putting it in park and approached the window.

Lance was caught off guard by how worried Shiro was for him and blushed at the sudden attention. He tried to brush it off as nothing.

"I'll live," he replied with a smile, realizing only then how much the bruises hurt, considering they had reduced in swelling already. "It was just a customer that tried to jump me over being salty about the special event ending."

"Lance…"

"Seriously, I'll be okay. Keith already iced down my bruises and checked me for any other injuries. Really I'll be fine," assured Lance as he waved his hands frantically to emphasize not to worry.

However, Shiro's face suddenly became determined as he thought up an idea and placed his money on the counter. "Can you tell Keith to hold my order. I'll be right back."

Lance stuttered. "W-w-what? Uh, yeah, sure, we'll be here," he replied as he waved Shiro off. In checking if any cars were in the drive-thru or approaching and seeing none, he went over to Keith's station.

"Did I just see Shiro drive off without his order?" asked Keith as he was preparing it. "Did he pay you at least?"

Lance couldn't help but laugh at how confused Keith was before telling him the situation. "He said he'd be back to pick it up and yes he did pay FYI."

"Okay okay, jeez chill. I know he's your crush and all, but I had to ask since most times people that do that are being assholes."

"Oh that's right. Forgot about that…"

Keith rolled his eyes in disbelief at his best friend, but was curious as to what Lance's crush was up to exactly.

About 20 minutes passed as they waited before they were suddenly alerted by Shiro's voice on the speaker. "Hey Lance, I'm back."

Lance jumped.

He and Keith looked at each other before Keith shrugged. "I highly doubt he's gonna commit murder, and he needs to pick up his food anyway."

Lance just stared at him in disbelief. "How are we friends?"

Keith chuckled.

Without delay, Lance turned back his focus on responding. "Yeah, just come to the window."

Keith returned to his station, leaving Lance on his own to talk to Shiro, who once again, popped out of the driver's side of the car as soon as it stopped in front of Lance. He was holding a bag and seemed to be a bit flustered with handing it over. "I got this for your injuries."

Lance blinked, but quietly took the bag and opened it. Inside was a strange item called Ubre Plus with tea tree oil, some bandages, some antiseptic soap, and some Neosporin.

"The Ubre Plus with tea tree oil looks weird and smells strong, but it reduces swelling really well and fast with bruises and muscles in general, so you should apply it when you go to sleep and hopefully tomorrow you'll feel much better," explained Shiro as he further added to apply a thin coating and that the bandages helped prevent it from wiping it off easily along the limbs.

"I'm not sure what to say, this is honestly the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for me—not that that's a bad thing I swear! But really you didn't have to do this, thank you so much Shiro," said Lance as he held the bag close to his chest.

Shiro was practically beaming from gratitude as his face turned several shades of red and Lance realized that he'd been worried that he'd possibly be considered creepy or awkward.

And here Lance thought he was the one always looking anxious around his crush. It gave him hope that maybe his chances were higher than he thought they could be, but he didn't want to max out his excitement, and later have it crushed from whatever catch life threw at him.

Lance was going to say something more, but Shiro beat him to it, "We, uh, I mean, if you want, we could be not strangers? Like uh, friends, yeah that."

If the universe demanded a priceless expression be framed, Lance would tell it to pick the one that Shiro was making right now and yell to skies that such purity shouldn't exist. He could feel his face burn up as he managed to say, "I'd really like that."

* * *

The event left Lance so high on cloud nine that no shitty customer could ruin his week after that, but he still made sure to not be alone when doing chores like throwing out the trash.

In addition, Shiro had been right; the Ubre Plus with tea tree oil was incredibly fast with helping reduce the swelling and pain of his injuries and within a few days Lance was nearly done healing. He was still quite sore, but otherwise fine and energized by his ever growing crush on Shiro.

Keith had easily noticed how joyful his best friend had become since the exchange of kindness had happened and he really hoped that the two could continue to get along well.

* * *

"That's too expensive, can't you like change it to like a dollar less or something?" some bratty young adult said into the speaker and Keith couldn't hold back from saying. "I don't own McDonald's sir. The prices are set, so you either order and pay up or leave."

Pidge was sitting along the wall behind him this time and quirked an eyebrow at the situation before she quickly pulled out her camera. Keith seemed to know exactly what would possibly unfold and set his stance ready to hold position.

Literally in the span of 2 seconds, the car rolled up to where Keith was and the driver stepped out, trying to force his way through the window before Keith promptly blocked off his attacks and kicked him in the chest to shove him out. He partially perched at the window and glared at the person, "Don't fucking test me dude."

Without delay, the guy hopped into his car and drove off.

"Damn. What the hell was that?" she asked in shock at the violence that had just spurred.

"Bullshit is what it is," he stated just as he heard Lance and Hunk rush over.

"Keith are you alright man?" asked Lance as he took his turn to check his best friend for any injuries.

"I'm fine, some idiot tried to climb through the window, so I kicked him out."

"Literally," added Pidge.

* * *

Abuela Honerva had shown up some nights later and Lance was forced to count out the 10 dollars worth of pennies. Honestly, he did not understand why she did this, but at least she was polite and not someone trying to start a fight over an item on the menu.

Things were quiet this time and Pidge was curious on any stuff she'd missed while studying for some midterms. "Alright guys, hit us with more stupid shit to help us lose faith in humanity."

Keith looked towards Lance. "You start this time."

"Oh god," groaned Lance as he hopped on the counter and thought up what ridiculous story he could tell. "Well, sometimes… we get _those _people that demand their food to be fresh..."

"I feel like I'm gonna regret hearing what's next," mentioned Hunk as he cringed at the possibilities.

Lance smiled sarcastically. "But then complain when we ask them to pull forward like—FOOD TAKES TIME TO COOK YOU DUMB FUCK!"

Hunk hesitantly raised his hand.

"What is it?" asked Keith as he quirked an eyebrow.

"Mind clarifying what this drama is about regarding lightly salted fries?" he said as he soon proceeded to fiddle with fingers nervously.

"Oh lord not that," replied Keith as he pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh. "The concept doesn't exist. If anyone tells you otherwise, they're lying to you. I've seen Nyma do it to customers out of spite who're just dumb enough to not notice."

"Yikes," stated Hunk as he cringed slightly.

"What's dumb is when I get customers complaining that their iced coffee tastes too much like coffee," brought up Lance as he stared at the ceiling, "like this morning this dude was trying to tell me how it's not supposed to and I'm just—MOTHERFUCKER WHAT DO YOU THINK COFFEE TASTES LIKE?!—if you want your coffee sweeter, you better fucking pay for extra syrup."

Keith pitifully patted him on the shoulder as they heard Hunk's and Pidge's minds be blown by the idiocy they had to deal with and that wasn't even the half of it.

* * *

Lance wished he had the power to freeze idiots out of his life permanently, but alas, he was merely a mortal and so he had to deal with the current bullshit being thrown at him right now.

The client he was tending to had ordered several items from the menu, but upon reaching the pickup window, they suddenly recalled how they needed some utensils, then extra straws, then extra napkins, then how they needed some items in separate bags; each task requested right as Lance finished the one before the other.

What made the situation worse was that he _knew_ that Shiro was waiting right behind them and he cried internally at how he was making his crush wait so unnecessarily for his order.

"Quit internally screaming dude, I can hear it all the way over here," spoke Keith into the speaker.

Lance froze in the middle of getting some extra napkins AGAIN when he heard his best friend speak. "Keith! Stop reading my mind! What the fuck?!" he murmured.

A chuckle could be heard on the other line as Lance tried to finish up here. "Will that be all?"

"Perfect! Thank you!" replied the customer before they zoomed off and when Lance was sure they couldn't see him from their rearview mirror, he flipped them off.

"Difficult night?" he heard someone say behind him and Lance nearly smacked into the edge of the sliding window when he jumped in surprise.

"Oh, h-h-e-y Shiro! I mean...yeah…" nervously replied Lance as he straightened up. "B-but I'm fine though I just...uh..."

That last part had been almost yelled and Lance wanted to flip a fucking table with how his voice died in his throat at being so embarrassed to finish the sentence with "I really wanted to see you."

Upon dragging himself back to reality, Lance set off to prepare Shiro's order as rapidly as he could, "Sorry that you had to wait so long," he apologized as he moved around his station.

"No worries. I didn't mind at all. It's always a pleasure to see you Lance," he said happily while putting the car in park, and it made Lance's heart flutter like a hummingbird as he tried not to clumsily drop anything he was holding.

Yet, he got a boost of confidence and dramatically waltzed back to the window, stopping perfectly to place everything done with months of practice. "It's always good to see you too," he replied with a smile.

The blush that bloomed on Shiro's face was worth the effort of pushing Lance's luck and he couldn't have been prouder for being the cause of that.

"You're beautiful," Shiro spouted while in awe, and then it was Lance's turn to catch himself from falling apart in front of his crush. However at the same time, he was relieved at the twinge of hope shining between him and Shiro.

It seemed that his crush hadn't meant to say that out loud and covered his mouth as he tried to swallow his humiliation. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have—"

"Excuse me," Lance cut him off once he recovered somewhat from the flattery. Shiro froze, but he wasn't going to keep him worried for long, "The universe made you and blessed my life with getting to see you once a week. I think I should be the one saying that line, except I feel that handsome suits you better."

"Fucking finally you got your shit together," spoke Keith from his headset.

If Lance could this instant, he'd throw his shoe at his best friend and blast _Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) _by Beyoncé on repeat.

"I, uh, fuck, I mean, I did not plan that far ahead," admitted Shiro as he flushed furiously from being buried alive by praise and hid his face in his hands.

For the first time, a laugh bubbled out of Lance in front of his crush, but it was neither cruel nor mocking, but merely at the ridiculousness of the situation. Shiro however seemed to struggle further with keeping his composure. Without missing a beat, Lance spoke into the headset to ask Keith a question, but his best friend was faster.

"No customers are coming in Casanova, so feel free to hop out the window."

Shiro meanwhile in the span of several seconds, had begun mumbling incoherent words as he tried to swallow his embarrassment, which prevented him from catching on to whatever it was Lance was going to do.

On the other hand, Lance happily cleared a path for himself and gracefully hopped out the window. He dusted himself off like some princess out of a disney movie and wondered how long it'd take his crush to notice what had occurred.

"I'm not laughing at you, you know," he clarified, his voice soft with honesty as he placed a hand behind his neck and chuckled nervously. "I meant what I said."

Shiro gathered the courage to peek from between his hands and gawked at Lance and then at window. "How did you—"

"On the rare nights where no one comes by, endless shenanigans ensue… including challenging your best friend to see who can hop out of a drive-thru window the most graceful. I'm currently the champion."

"That's because I slipped last time and before that you almost face-planted," called out Keith from his window with a smirk.

"Fuck you Keith!" yelled back Lance as he sassily rested a hand against his hip.

"Same to you Lance!" replied his best friend before he went back inside to do some tasks.

Lance on the other hand, was ready to roll off the retort at the tip of his tongue when a beautiful sound stopped his train of thought.

Laughter.

Shiro's laughter.

Blinking in confusion, Lance turned back towards his crush and once again, his breath got caught in his throat at the sight of such a gift from the universe.

As Shiro tried to stifle his laughter, he managed to reply. "Sorry, sorry, haha, it's just that when I," he said prior to clearing his throat, "when I said I hadn't thought that far ahead, I meant that I didn't think I'd be able to bask in your sunshine so much," he confessed, as he looked away shyly.

"W-w-w-w-wait! Y-y-y-y-you l-l-l-like m-m-me? Me? ME?!" exclaimed Lance, pointing at himself. Regardless of whether the odds had been in his favor, Lance found it difficult to believe such a moment was happening to him.

"I mean, after I came back and gave you the stuff from the pharmacy store, I thought it was obvious, but then I panicked and said being friends is fine," explained Shiro before hiding his face in his hand out of shame for not being braver.

Lance was absolutely red and speechless as he internally screamed.

Before he could gather himself, Shiro removed his hands from his face, a newfound determination written on it as he turned to look at Lance. "Would you… like t-to go on a date?!" he practically shouted anxiously.

"Yeah!" replied Lance with the same loudness and nervosity in his own voice.

* * *

The two had exchanged numbers, but hadn't texted much since then because of how finals were rolling around, but since they were not the most experienced at dating, they settled on going to the mall for their first date and improvising from there.

Waiting for said time of date was another story though.

A+ bullshit continued to reach his and Keith's doorstep at work and neither were having any of it today.

Early in the afternoon, a customer came in demanding that the company replace food from two weeks ago because they messed up their order, yet had no receipt or food to return to prove the story true. Keith and Lance had glanced at each other while at the front register together with deadpan stares before stating in unison. "No… You're not getting anything replaced."

Later on, another moronic customer tried to take advantage of them by returning to the counter and saying that their fries weren't hot, yet half of them in the box were already eaten.

Keith was in no fucking mood to tolerate. "Since you've eaten most of them, I guess I should just weigh these and then give back exactly what you brought," he stated with an innocent tone to his voice.

The customer's jaw dropped. "You can't do that."

"I have, can, and will," replied Keith with a darker tone, silently challenging the person to try and counter argue with something.

"That's not fair!" exclaimed the customer as they pointed accusingly at Keith.

"Alright then, you can keep the box you have," added Keith with a deviant smile.

The customer had no escape and fumed back to their seat with the same box of fries that they came to the front counter with.

When the drive-thru window shift came, it only got worse.

"This is the ONLY place that charges for sauces," complained the customer as he finished hearing his order read back to him.

"First of all, you quiznak, no one and I mean NO ONE is forcing you to come here," addressed Lance as he pointed at the teenager in the driver's seat, "and second, I'm gonna charge you two extra cents for the tax, so either pay up or get the fuck out."

Surprisingly enough, the annoying teenager complied with the terms and silently paid while their head hung in shame for being called out on the spot.

From behind him, Lance heard Hunk whistle impressively. "I think Keith's rubbing off on you."

"That mullet's got nothin' on me," declared Lance dramatically with a flip of his invisibly long hair.

"I'm ending this friendship," stated Keith just as he walked in on the conversation and turned around to leave.

"Keith nooooooooooooo!" whined Lance as he jumped his best friend with a hug. "Buddy? Pal? I would never speak ill of you. Don't leave meeeeeeeeee."

Pidge of course had been behind Keith and was now recording the mini drama that Lance was currently causing as Keith remained unphased by it.

"Uhuh, I'm still leaving," restated Keith as he tried to pull away, but Lance wouldn't let up. "Lance! Come on!"

"Never!"

"I am not carrying you around for the next hour. Get off!" demanded Keith as he tried to pry his best friend off him.

"Not until you reconnect the broken bond!" declared Lance adamantly with a smug smile on his face.

Keith groaned.

Once the excitement died down, the drive-thru traffic picked up again and both returned to their appointed stations.

Lance was situated at the pick-up window this time and upon handing the order over to the person, they rummaged through the bag, barely giving it a second glance before they suddenly claimed very loudly, "Ugh you guys always get my order wrong, every single time!"

_Is murder legal yet?_

Before Lance could even say anything, someone else beat him to the punch.

"Why the fuck are you still coming back then?" called back a familiar voice from the car behind the current customer. As said person turned around to confront them, they immediately regretted the decision and drove away with their food.

Lance blinked with surprise at how fast that situation got resolved.

"Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear and didn't like how they were treating you," apologized Shiro as he pulled up with a slight blush on his face.

Instantly, Lance put his hands together as if in prayer and closed his eyes while taking in a deep breath.

_How is this man real?!_

"Marry him," said Keith confidently from Lance's headset.

_Shut up Keith._

Lance immediately pointed at Shiro and said, "You're too good to be real. Who are you?"

At that, Shiro burst into that musical laughter that stole Lance's heart all over again.

* * *

If anyone had told Lance months ago that he'd be going on a date with someone as incredibly handsome as Shiro, he'd have laughed and just said, "Thanks for your vote of confidence." Yet, here he was, anxiously waiting to meet up with him at the mall, and ignoring at the trio calling themselves his protection squad sitting behind him.

"You all realize I'm an adult right?" mentioned Lance as he glanced at them.

"Don't mind us, we're here for the food and to kick his ass if he does something," casually mentioned Keith with a smirk as he munched on cheese covered nachos.

"I still can't believe _you're_ the crush Matt's roommate always went off about though. I don't know why it never occurred to me," mentioned Pidge as she took a sip from her milkshake.

Hunk chuckled next to her before he took a sip of his lemonade. "Well to be fair, Matt never mentioned a name and you never met his roommate until recently."

"And Lance and I didn't even know you had a brother," added Keith as he took another bite of a cheese covered nacho.

"You guys _never_ asked," she retorted with a face of disbelief, which made Lance snort.

He was about to say something when his breath caught at the sight of someone familiar and waving at him.

Keith immediately noticed and smirked. "Well loverboy, aren't you gonna meet up with him?"

Lance straightened and blushed as the reality once more struck him down like lightning that he was about to go on a date with someone as beautiful and wonderful as Shiro.

"Oh no, he's short-circuiting again," pointed out Hunk.

Immediately after, Keith wiped his hands with a napkin, stood from his seat, and placed his hands on Lance's shoulders from behind to start pushing his best friend towards Shiro.

By the time Lance realized what was happening he was already halfway there. "Keeeeeiiiiith!"

"Dude, quit stalling. You've been pining for months now. Take the shot and get your guy," insisted Keith as Lance proceeded to respond with anxious garbled noises.

A little before the gap of distance was closed, Keith released Lance and walked back to join Pidge and Hunk at the table.

Shiro seemed confused by what had just occurred, but it was quickly replaced with joy upon glancing at Lance again. "I'm glad I could see you again, outside of your workplace."

Lance blinked, mind still trying to stop drawing a blank.

"N-n-not t-t-that seeing you at work was terrible or anything, I-I-I-I just meant that I really enjoy your c-c-company," hurriedly clarified Shiro as he held out his hands as if he could physically hold back the misunderstanding.

At that Lance smiled warmly and was reminded of how human and endearing Shiro was overall. Despite looking like a gift of the gods, he was very down to earth and was too considerate for his own good.

Gently, Lance reached out with his own hands to lightly touch at the sides of Shiro's wrists as he held them up. "I'm glad too. This honestly feels like a dream if I'm being honest."

"Well… then I guess I better convince you that it's very real," offered Shiro with a smirk.

"I can't believe you! Stop making me flustered!" declared Lance, his face feeling all sorts of shades of pink as he hid it behind his hands.

Shiro chuckled and managed to get enough courage to wrap his arm over Lance's shoulder before pulling them both along to wherever their interests took them.

The mall they were at had just recently been built, but neither had had a proper opportunity to explore until now, so their first destination turned out to be a pet store that was handled by a humane society. There, Lance squealed with delight at the sight of all the rescued cats and dogs that were on display on a screen in hopes of getting a new home. The area consisted of two floors, the dogs were on the first level and the cats on the second.

"You're welcome to interact with them if you'd like," offered one of the employees at the front desk.

Although some people were already present and playing with some of the animals, there were still plenty available to interact with. As they looked around, both were very impressed by the condition of the facility in that it was kept very clean and every animal had enough space and attention provided to keep them happy as they awaited for someone to give them a permanent home. Left and right Lance and Shiro saw employees and volunteers moving here and there to do chores and tasks around the location. All without interrupting the audience engaged with the dogs and cats.

Soon enough, after some walking around, Lance and Shiro found themselves being licked by various large and affable dogs prior to being used as pillows by the cats that ended up gathering around them in the second level when they sat on the ground together facing each other.

"Have you ever had cats before?" asked Lance curiously as he petted and scratched two cats at once with both his hands before he switched around to some other two.

"I've never had pets to be honest, growing up, my family didn't have the space for it, but I've always wanted either a dog or a cat or both if I can do that," he answered as he massaged the face of some cats that would melt at his touch.

"Wait… is this your first time interacting with cats?" asked Lance as he stared at him long and hard, his mouth slightly agape.

Shiro chuckled and gosh Lance couldn't help but feel his heart skip a beat at the sound of that.

"Not really. My roommate, Matt, has a lot of cats at home, and after we met in college, we found out we didn't live too far from each other, so oftentimes I'd come over and just hang with him. Pidge too. If I recall correctly, their mother mentioned it was because the siblings couldn't turn away any stray they saw," explained Shiro before his voice trailed off and was left for a moment with his thoughts.

Meanwhile, Lance was at a loss for words at the positive aura that radiated from this man before him.

_How did I get so lucky?_

"Is there something on my face?" asked Shiro as he suddenly looked at him.

"No, but can I kiss you?" said Lance before a split second after he realized what he'd said and internally panicked.

_Oh shit._

_Oh fuck._

_OH SHI—_

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt warm, solid, and roughly smooth lips against his own, which perfectly connected to his. It was light and timid, but honest all the same before Shiro pulled back to say, "I thought you'd never ask."

Lance's heart was soaring, and from the current closeness he was sharing with Shiro, he could faintly hear how fast his heartbeat was going too. With further encouragement of the mesmerizing atmosphere between them, Lance gently rested his forehead against Shiro's. "Glad I asked then," he replied with a smile.

* * *

The two soon found themselves wandering through the mall once more and this time with their hands intertwined and less anxiety in the air. Their dynamic gradually became a unique push and pull of the ocean's waves and both happily basked in it.

An hour or so passed during their exploration before they came across the movie theater and Lance became excited to see that Skyfall was in theaters. "Aaahhh I've been so busy I hadn't noticed! Can we watch it? I mean that is if you want to. You don't have to if you—"

"It'd be my pleasure," answered Shiro who thought Lance's excitement was beyond precious.

Soon after, they purchased their tickets for the next showing that was to begin in a few minutes, and hurriedly made their way inside. Though, not before they purchased some snacks from the concession stand that comprised of one popcorn and two bottles of water.

Once the movie began, both were readily invested with the plot and the introduction of new characters, such as Eve and Q. The plot unfolded at an incredible pace and the atmosphere was constantly tense with few moments of calm in between before it concluded with an ending that brought on mixed feelings.

When it was over, both exited the theater and began discussing about their thoughts on the movie. Both noted that there were some moments that could've turned out differently, but the results were satisfactory to them overall.

"So what would you say is your favorite scene?" asked Shiro as he took a sip from his water bottle.

Lance pondered for a moment before he smirked. "Definitely the scene where Q and James met. It was priceless!"

Shiro laughed. "Well what do you know? That's also mine too."

Dramatically, Lance gasped as he held a hand to his heart. "How dare you copy me?!"

The laughter bubbling out of Shiro did not cease as he raised his hands in surrender and insisted he was innocent.

* * *

1 month later…

Lance and Keith had a small moment of peace during the late hours of the drive thru for which they ended up using to ensue further shenanigans; this case being who could carry around the other the longest on a piggyback ride.

Keith was typically the reigning champion at endurance, but Lance was ever gradually getting better and despite losing often in this challenge, his best friend always encouraged him and acknowledged his improvement. It was a constant reminder how Lance was ever grateful for his friendship of so many years.

They always decided who would carry who first through rock, paper, scissors and after five rounds, Lance would be the first to carry.

"Sometimes I wanna ask what in the heck it is you guys do, but then I remember that I volunteered to come here," said Pidge as she pulled out her camera to film them with a look of disbelief on her face.

"Hey, it's finally the end of the first summer term, of course we gotta let loose," declared Keith as he held up an index finger for extra emphasis.

"I find it fascinating how your guys' term of let loose is challenging each other late at night at McDonald's while working instead of partying, yet it still falls under wild," pointed out Hunk.

"We're special," declared Keith as he gracefully hopped onto Lance's back who wobbled slightly in keeping his balance as they adjusted to their new position.

"I can't believe I'm stuck with you dorks," stated Pidge as she burst into laughter.

Lance and Keith grinned proudly as the duo ridiculously wandered through the restaurant to inspect the area and assure that everything was in place. Well aware that Hunk or Pidge would notify them if anyone would come by and show up on the camera.

If they had to fix up anything out of place, Lance would be the legs and Keith the arms to function as one person without interrupting their game. As hilarious as it sounded, they did it with utmost practice and laughed about how this whole thing started one random day. Lance had been tired and jokingly draped himself over Keith's back, saying that if he could lift him, then they could fuse into one person and awesomely get so much done. Motivated, Keith had complied to the challenge and had done as Lance suggested by lifting him in a piggy back ride. They hadn't gotten much done that day what with trying to figure out how to stay balanced and not wobble so much. Eventually after more tries in the weeks that had followed they got the hang of it and now do it rather casually, though only when it's just them since they didn't want to get in trouble from any snitchy coworkers.

While they restocked some items from the pantry and cleaned some stuff here and there, they suddenly heard a yell from down the hall.

"Shiro's here!" yelled Hunk.

Hurriedly, Lance rushed to the window, nearly forgetting that he was carrying Keith, who kindly pushed the button to open the communication channel. Allowing Lance to get Shiro's order like any other day.

It was only after Keith closed the communication channel, after they set to prepare the order, that Lance realized how awkward of a position he was in. "Oh my god, what if he sees us?"

"And? It's not like he hasn't seen worse," pointed out Keith.

"KEEEEIIIITTTTH!" whined Lance as he internally facepalmed at how his best friend never had shame. He tried peeling him off, but it was no use, he was too strong.

Lance turned to give him a deadpan stare. "You're an asshole."

Keith merely grinned.

Before Lance could get out another word, he heard from behind by the window, "Should I even ask what's going on?"

Lance sputtered for a response.

"We formed Voltron," said Keith, grinning once more.

Shiro chuckled from the driver's seat of the car before he put it in park, and exited it to walk up to the window. He waved to the group. "How's everyone doing tonight?"

"Basking in freedom," replied Pidge as Hunk gestured in agreement with her statement.

"What Pidge said," said Lance and Keith at once.

"Can't disagree with you there, I'm glad my classes are over too," admitted Shiro as he rested his folded arm by the edge of the window. "Can I kiss my boyfriend or is that too risky?"

"Just pretend I'm not here, I need to do inventory on some stuff anyways," declared Keith as he began taking count of items within the room. All while Lance rolled his eyes in disbelief.

"I tried to get him off, but he's anything if adamant about making sure things go fair whenever we do this endurance test—ow!" explained Lance as he felt a jab near his rib from Keith, but his best friend remained "distracted" with his duties. Though, briefly he glanced over at Lance with a smirk.

Shiro blinked, but chuckled at their exchange before he leaned forward to greet his boyfriend with a kiss. When they pulled away, Shiro said, "Have I ever told you that kissing you never ceases to feel amazing?"

Lance honestly hated (not really) how Shiro could fill his heart with such wholesome words and illuminate the dark skies of his days with endless brightness, all while accepting him for he was.

No one was flawless, but damn, Lance couldn't deny how perfect everything felt right now.


End file.
